How Green is our Company?
Materialised offers a versatile range of products for the healthcare industries.
We're keen to let you know there is more to the topic of ecological sustainability than meets the eye!
At Materialised we take this matter very seriously and we want to tell you why we do what we do:
- Why we select to use polyester as a fibre
- When we choose to transfer print
- Why the greenest thing we can do is to make absolutely sure the fabric we supply is suitable for its purpose (early replacement isn't green).
- About what goes out our chimney
- About what we do to recycle
Our Policy on Ecological Sustainability
Everything we do impacts upon our planet. Our firm takes this responsibility
very seriously and strives to see that our materials, processes and recycling activities leave the smallest possible ecological footprint.
Our approach is to look at – and objectively measure -the overall ecological toll. That evaluation goes all the way downstream from initial production, to life extension and all the way to disposal at the end of the product’s life.
This is why Materialised has chosen to specialise in the use of flame retardant modified polyesters: they perform better, last longer, are less expensive and have a lighter impact upon our environment, for our specific market segment.
Safety, of course, is the most important criterion. When printing, we employ a dye sublimation process that does not interfere with the polyester material’s ability to retard flame & is significantly gentler on our planet than other printing methods. Further, when exposed to flame, modified polyester gives off far lower levels of toxic fumes than topical flame retardant treated products, and lasts the life of the fabric.
Fibres
In terms of production and treatment, each class of fibre carries its own ecological cost. Comparisons reveal few unchallengeable winners, especially if one looks at the broader context.
For example, at first glance it may seem that a naturally-grown product like cotton has an advantage over a synthetic fibre produced by the petro-chemical industry. However, when one factors in the ‘eco-cost’ of cotton’s very high demand for water (29,000 L/Kg) and insecticides (10 to 18 applications of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides,never mind the impacts of dyeing and printing) the picture becomes much less clear.
Wool production, too, brings its own set of ecological disadvantages – especially when it is being scoured and dyed. 170,000 litres of water to produce 1 Kg of wool+ soil compaction and methane emissions.
Popular perception is, polyester and nylon fibres come from a limited and non-renewable source. However, the quantity of oil used in producing these textiles is a negligible proportion of total world consumption. Most estimate is less than 1%.
Product Life
This is a big factor when evaluating the eco-cost of a fibre. All other things being equal, a fibre that provides longer service than another fibre is the better ecological choice.
Just to take one example: a flame-retardant polyester lasts 3.3 times as long as a topically-treated fire-retardant cotton material. On top of that, flame-retardant polyesters require no post-production chemical processes, unlike the finishes needed by cotton that are also prone to deterioration.
Processes
Whilst there are some aspects of production that limits ones ability to significantly reduce the ecological cost of fibre production, impressive strides are continuing to be made in the ways that fibres are processed.
For a start, Materialised deals with fabric and ingredient suppliers who share our commitment to ecological responsibility. These include Trevira, & Avora (fibre producers) and paper suppliers Transfertex and Transprint USA (the latter claims to use less water turning out millions of metres of paper annually, than their staff put into their coffee!).
Our type of dye sublimation printing makes for a lower inventory and hence reduced holding costs, less ‘fashion risk’, etc – and thus, a lower price to the end-user.
During our printing processes, all emissions must first pass through several filtering media, including activated carbon. In this way, we ensure that all we ever vent into the atmosphere is... fresh air.
Maintenance
Both financially and ecologically, the cost of cleaning and maintaining fabrics must be an important consideration when choosing materials.
The difference can be significant, as the following example shows. Not only are polyester bedspreads 36% less costly to create and last 3.3 times as long compared with equivalent flame-retardant treated cotton spreads, but they ALSO require significantly less energy and detergents to wash and dry.
Recycling
Technically speaking, polyester can be recycled.
Because of difficulties processing, reconstructing or pulping for reconstituting locally, we look to exporting these potentially useful materials to developing countries, in order to extend their useful life.
Materialised is making real progress in many other areas:
- We are driving a collaborative project to give used furnishings a ‘second life’. This entails training unemployed people in the required skills (upholstering, soft furnishing and laundering) to re-use these materials.
- Materialised ensures that all spent paper used in dye sublimation printing is recycled – and even the cardboard tubes the paper is supplied on are recovered wherever practicable. Spent tissue paper is passed on to florists to be recycled as wrapping paper, or is pulped for re-use.
- Most of our sales and marketing efforts involve the distribution of product samples – and over a year this can amount to a considerable quantity of material, both fabric and board. Our practice is to use and re-use packaging board – and to encourage clients to find charitable applications for unwanted fabric samples.
- Electronic forms of sample representation are used where appropriate, in lieu of actual textile.
- We deliver our remnants and sample pieces to schools and other educational bodies for use in craftwork.
Disposal
Of course, not all our materials can be recycled by us. Materialised takes special care to pre-sort, prepare and bin all such items for collection by our local authority which has its own recycling program.
All chemicals and other liquids are properly stored and disposed of to minimise any risk of spillage, contamination, fire or damage to the environment. This is backed up by staff training programs and HAZMAT procedures.
We take our ecological responsibility very seriously and do our best to encourage our suppliers, staff, and clients to do likewise.